Lab Santé Midi Libre: nasal polyposis and anosmia at the heart of discussions

Olivier Biscaye moderated this round table alongside Louis Crampette, Jean-Michel Maillard and Valentin Favier. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Plus d’une cinquantaine de personnes sont venues assister à cet échange. Midi Libre

A disease unknown to the vast majority of French people, nasal polyposis, which generally affects adults, nevertheless remains a condition to be taken seriously. This was the whole purpose of the special Health Lab organized at Midi Libre headquarters on Wednesday April 24 in partnership with Sanofi. The round table, also with the Anosmie.org association, provided a better understanding of the disease around which discussions then took place.

Around fifty people came to attend the Midi Libre Health Lab on the subject of nasal polyposis, Wednesday April 24. Hosted by Olivier Biscaye, editorial director, the event was organized in partnership with Sanofi and Anosmie.org. Thus, three guests answered the questions: Louis Crampette, head of the medical team Surgery of the nose, sinuses, base of the skull, snoring and sleep apnea, at Montpellier University Hospital; Jean-Michel Maillard, founding president of the Anosmie.org association and Valentin Favier, rhinologist and skull base surgeon at Montpellier University Hospital.

More than a million French people affected

Nasal polyposis is a little-known disease. And for good reason, "more than 70 % of French people do not know what it’s about, underlined Louis Crampette. This disease is characterized by nasal obstruction, marked disturbances of smell, and an increased tendency to sneeze accompanied by a profusely runny nose" . In certain marked cases, the patient may experience sleep disturbances and anosmia (total loss of sense of smell, temporary or permanent), and nearly 50% of patients have associated asthma.

"Most often, we go to see our doctor who thinks we are suffering from allergic rhinitis, book Valentin Favier. But for those with polyposis, we quickly realize that this diagnosis is not good, without automatically announcing nasal polyposis, because it is not well known. And to specify: "If the polyposis is at an advanced stage, the polyps can be seen with the naked eye. They look like translucent grapes. Otherwise, we see them with an optical fiber in the nasal cavity".

A treatment broken down into three phases

When the diagnosis of nasal polyposis is made, "generally between the ages of 30 and 40, the disease almost does not exist in children’ quot;, specified Louis Crampette, a treatment is proposed, separated into three phases, depending on its effectiveness. First, the patient is prescribed a corticosteroid treatment using sprays. "It’s local, there is no blood passage, and that’s an advantage. We can help ourselves with cortisone tablets, but remain careful with the doses so as not to have side effects", added Valentin Favier.

If the condition is not sufficiently improved, we turn to surgery. "It provides good results for 85 to 90% of patients, and must be continued with corticosteroid therapy", added Louis Crampette.

Finally, as a third and last resort, it is interesting, along with the progress of medicine, to look at biotherapy. "Today it has the effectiveness of cortisone, but without the side effects. It’is a treatment that must be injected subcutaneously", he explained.

A public with little awareness of anosmia

At the microphone of Olivier Biscaye, Jean-Michel Maillard also testified exhaustively about his experience. The founding president of the Anosmie.org association is traumatic anosmic.

"I fell from my height, the back of my head onto the tiles, he said testified. And a few days later, – because this was not the first symptom – I understood that I no longer had a sense of smell. For Jean-Michel Maillard, the role of smell is unknown. "So obviously, we have a hard time as an anosmic. We have few people to talk with. I no longer smell the smell of my son's kiss, the smell of my wife's body, or my grandmother's perfume. In our culture, we think that the sense of smell is not useful", he lamented.

In this idea of ​​continuous information, in addition to regularly organizing awareness-raising videoconferences, Jean-Michel Maillard also announced the release of a book, the 6th ;next June, named Be Nose without smell. And Louis Crampette added: "Paradoxically, the Covid epidemic was very useful at this level, since on the first variants, one patient in two were anosmic. This pathology found itself much more publicized than before thanks to this".

Patients who realize that they are not alone

When the microphone was passed around the assembly, the testimonies followed one another, all telling unique stories. "I think I have the typical profile that you have just described, confided a 69-year-old man. I have been anosmic for 17 years, I&rsquo I have asthma. I see life in black and white, but I don't give in anything. We must continue to move forward".

In the front row, another participant shared his experience. "I have been operated on twice for my nasal polyposis: first in 1994, then in 2007, and I have not lost it. rsquo;smell only two years after the second operation. I have digested this loss, but it’s true that it requires quite an adaptation, he testified.

Finally, a young forty-year-old described her long journey against the disease: "I suffer from anosmia, I have polyposis nasal for 10 years, and I would just like to thank you for putting into words what I have been feeling all this time. My nasal corticosteroid treatment no longer gives me satisfaction, I think we will see each other again, because I plan to go for an operation…", she said, d&rsquo ;a convinced look.

At the end of this round table, the people who came to attend the speeches, alongside the speakers, were able to discuss their respective experiences, with a smile on their lips and their heads full of hope .